CBLFT-DT
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| Toronto, Ontario | |
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| Branding | Radio-Canada Ontario |
| Slogan | Ici comme dans la vie |
| Channels | Digital: 25 (UHF) Virtual: 25.1 (PSIP) |
| Translators | see below |
| Affiliations | Radio-Canada |
| Owner | Société Radio-Canada |
| First air date | March 23, 1973[1] |
| Call letters' meaning | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Great Lakes Français Télévision |
| Sister station(s) | CBUT-DT, CBL-FM, CBLA-FM |
| Former callsigns | CBLFT (1973-2011) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 25 (UHF, 1973-2011) Digital: 25 (UHF, 2005-2011) |
| Transmitter power | 106.2 kW |
| Height | 491.0 m |
| Transmitter coordinates | 43°38′33″N 79°23′14″W / 43.6425°N 79.38722°W |
| Website | Radio-Canada Ontario |
CBLFT-DT is the Télévision de Radio-Canada owned-and-operated station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by the Société Radio-Canada subsidiary of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, it is sister to CBC Television outlet CBLT-DT, and broadcasts a high-definition digital signal on UHF channel 25 from a transmitter atop the CN Tower in downtown Toronto.
Operating out of the Canadian Broadcasting Centre on Front Street West in downtown Toronto, the station provides French-language programming to the Greater Toronto Area and most of Ontario, including the Western, Central and Northeastern regions of the province. This station can also be seen in the Greater Toronto Area on Rogers Cable channel 12 and in high definition on digital channel 515. Despite being based in a major market, Bell TV only carries CBLFT's newscasts on its designated local news channel on satellite channel 197.
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[edit] History
CBLFT was originally licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 1972 as a standalone station, and launched on March 23, 1973; until CBLFT's startup, CBLT aired Radio-Canada programming on Sunday mornings. The station originally transmitted from the CBC's Jarvis Street transmitter site, but as with almost all other radio and television stations in Toronto, approval was given by the CRTC to move the transmitter site to the CN Tower on December 14.
Several transmitters in Northern Ontario which were already in operation as rebroadcasters of CBOFT in Ottawa were reassigned to CBLFT's license, and various additional rebroadcasters were added throughout Ontario in the 1970s and 1980s.
In the early 1990s, due to budget cutbacks at the CBC all of the station's transmitters, including the main signal in Toronto, were reassigned to the license of CBOFT as rebroadcasters. These transmitters continued to broadcast a separate local early-evening newscast, which was produced in Ottawa, but was only seen in that city via a late-night rebroadcast, similar to the morning-show split used at CBLA-FM.
On April 28, 2010, the CRTC granted a license request by the CBC to relaunch CBLFT as a separate station which would again produce a distinct local newscast from CBOFT.[2] Most of the network's transmitters in Ontario, outside of the Ottawa region, have again been reassigned to CBLFT's license, and newscast production has returned to Toronto.
[edit] Digital television and high definition
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which took place on August 31, 2011,[3] CBLFT moved from its current pre-transition channel number, 24, to its post-transition and former analog channel number, 25. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display CBLFT's virtual channel as 25.1.
Transmitters in mandatory markets were required to go digital or be taken off the air by the transition deadline of August 31, 2011. Radio-Canada requested to temporarily broadcast in analogue in these markets beyond 2011, as programming for Radio-Canada is not produced in these markets. [4] The following CBLFT rebroadcasters are in mandatory markets:
- CBLFT-8 Kitchener
- CBLFT-9 London
- CBLFT-18 Thunder Bay
- CBEFT Windsor
However, on August 16, 2011, the CRTC granted the CBC permission to continue operating 22 repeaters in mandatory markets, including the above, in analogue until August 31, 2012, in which by then they must either convert to digital or close down. This is pending the corporation's licence renewal process, which will include an evaluation of its transition plans.[5]
At some point before June 20, 2012, CBLFT had begun airing a Mobile DTV simulcast of CBLT-DT with a PSIP of 5-2, encoded in H.264 and HE-AAC[6].
[edit] Transmitters
Due to budget cuts handed down on the CBC in April 2012, the CBC has announced several austerity measures to keep the corporation solvent and in operation; this included the closure of the CBC and Radio-Canada's remaining analogue transmitters, including those listed below, by July 31, 2012.[7]
CBLFT-11, a repeater of CBLFT based in Barrie, closed down in August 2011, as it was not only part of the Toronto television market, but also it broadcasted on channel 55, which is part of the UHF band being phased out of television broadcasting. This transmitter was also subject to a deadline from the CRTC to shut down the transmitter or convert it to digital by August 31, 2011, but CBC did not seek and obtain a temporary extension to this deadline like it did for other non-originating transmitters in mandatory markets. The requirement remains for any of the corporation's other full power transmitters occupying channels 52 to 69 to either relocate to channels 2 to 51 or become low power transmitters. In some cases, CBC has opted to reduce the power of existing transmitters to low power transmitters, which will result in signal loss for some viewers.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Chouinard, Yvon (2004). "History of the Societe-Radio-Canada (SRC) Networks". Canadian Communications Foundation. http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/networks/networks_SRC_Television.html. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
- ^ CRTC Decision 2010-239
- ^ http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/oca-bc.nsf/en/ca02336e.html
- ^ CBC/Radio-Canada: "2011-2012 Digital Transition Plan", August 6,2010.
- ^ CRTC: "CRTC allows CBC to continue broadcasting analog television signals in 22 markets until August 2012", August 16, 2011.
- ^ http://dudewhereismytv.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/cbc-mdtv-testing-in-toronto/
- ^ CBC/Radio-Canada Speech Transcript: "Speaking notes for Hubert T. Lacroix, President and CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada, regarding measures announced in the context of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan (DRAP)", April 4, 2012.
- ^ http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-496.htm
[edit] External links
- Radio-Canada Ontario (French)
- Canadian Communications Foundation - CBLFT History
- Query the REC's Canadian station database for CBLFT
- Query TV Fool's coverage map for CBLFT
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